Quilter’s skill creates lifesaving face masks for Grafton police

By Lisa Redmond

Tuesday

Apr 14, 2020 at 11:13 AMApr 14, 2020 at 11:13 AM

GRAFTON – Muriel Morin has two members of her family that are the front lines of the coronavirus health crisis. He daughter, Stephanie, is a nurse at UMass Medical Center, and her son-in-law, Lt. Neil Minardi, is a Grafton police officer.

When the COVID-19 epidemic became a health crisis, the 69-year-old Oxford quilter wanted to put her skills to work by making safety masks for her daughter and her colleagues, but the hospital wasn’t accepting handmade face masks, she said.

Lt. Minardi, however, was more than happy to accept whatever masks the former Grafton resident could make. Masks, like other personal protective equipment, or PPEs, are getting hard to find as this pandemic worsens.

“I worry about them and I really wanted to do something to help keep everyone safe,’’ she said.

As an avid quilter, Ms. Morin said she already had the material to make the masks. She has been making quilts and household decorations for decades, but making face masks was something new. So, she went to the Joann Fabrics’ website which offered step-by-step instructions on how to make a face mask.

Using fabric and thread, she devoted an entire weekend to making 27 reusable cloth face masks for the Grafton Police Department’s officers and dispatchers. Each mask takes up to 30 minutes to make.

The males received blue masks and the females were given masks with different colors. Ms. Morin’s daughter added labels with the names of each person so there would be no confusion and no “shares.’’

”I wanted to do (masks) with a skull and crossbones on them,’’ Ms. Morin said laughing, but she was told that probably wasn’t a good idea.

Due to the overwhelming demand for face masks, it was fortunate that Ms. Morin had extra fabric and elastic because most stores are running out of supplies and orders are backlogged, she said. At this point, she said she has no more blue fabric.

A post on the Grafton Police Department’s Facebook page thanked Ms. Morin for her generous and possibly lifesaving donation.

“We would like to convey our appreciation to Muriel Morin for making and donating about 30 reusable cloth face masks to our officers & staff…Your thoughtful gift (will help) to keep us safe,’’ the post says. Included in the post were photos of Ms. Morin making a mask and the officers wearing them.